Mel Gibson Out of Control

Andrew Sullivan has been all over Mel Gibson's fiasco, and doesn't buy the defense that he was simply drunk and didn't mean what he said. Sullivan asks,

How many friends do you have who, after around three drinks immediately and without warning blurts out that the "Jews are responsible for all the wars in the world"? I guess I run in different circles than others.

Ordinarily I would agree, but Gibson is an alcoholic and in my experiences with alcoholics, they fly out of control very quickly when they start drinking, far sooner than a normal drinker would. I've seen alcoholics totally change personality after one or two drinks. Two or three drinks doesn't sound like much to those of us who don't have the addiction, but it can unleash the devil in an alcoholic.